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The night before TAKS

Emelie, as I’ve pointed out before, is as anal retentive as I am. We have a special bond – a beautiful bond wherein we sharpen pencils in unison, dream of an office supply EXTREME game show, organize our notebooks with appropriately spaced dividers and clear tabs (because colored tabs are sooooo yesterday), and carry Post-It Notes in our hip pocket. We are your worst nightmare, and the person you’ll call to plan your wedding, shower, move, party, etc…

Today was her TAKS test. She prepared her activity board with reminders starting 5 days ahead of the test. And? She got up this morning early, showered, and followed through on her directives. Now the board sports the words “TAKS TEST! I made a …. ______.” as she awaits her grade.

A word on the TAKS test. First, shame on the TEA for this ridiculous standardized testing program. And shame on them for their endless and confusing acronyms associated with it. The TAKS test is taken by most Texas public school students in spring of each year during grades 3-11. It is the single most stressful thing Emelie endured last year because in 3rd grade if you don’t pass, you don’t promote. The same applies for one’s junior year of high school.

Now, I know you’re thinking, “So?” But here’s the thing. What if you’re a straight A student and you just truly stink at standardized testing. In fact, what if you had better grades than most everyone in your class, but your senior year you made an 880 on your SAT and did not get into the university of your choice while your “D” level friends did. *ahem* – wait, I’m off subject. Oops.

At any rate, I think it is an inadequate assessment. It gets the teachers primed to pump out TAKS ready students, which means the educational system is now raising up pack mentality followers and test-ready students instead of thinkers and creatives. It means that it reduces our kids to a grade. TAKS evaluates a student’s learning based on the state-required curriculum … and that’s it.

Emelie will likely score high – she usually does. However, whether she scores high or not, it isn’t an assessment of her knowledge and skills. That can be found in her rhetoric, her writing, her application of learned principles to life, her ability to discern the meaning of words in context and use them in language, her summation of a recipe, her grandiose heart that raises her up as a tutor in her class because she can’t stand for another student to get behind.

… oh, and the amazing way she can get a sharp tip on a pencil with our dulled out sharpener in the garage. She can totally beat me at that one, but then I did make an 880 on my SAT.

Laura/PinkFontGirl – Glad to have you here – thanks for stopping in and introducing yourself in the comments! With the growing popularity of feedreaders (I’m so guilty of this too at times), I don’t always get to meet readers.

yeah, well, i had to say SOMETHING, because i’ve been guilty lately of finding a site through another site and getting lost in the chain reaction, and never having anything worthwhile to contribute so i just sorta but not really lurk. so i at least wanted you to know i was here ;P

journaling was so much easier when i didn’t have a day job and therefore had all the time in the world to blog. haha. (well, i can have that time back, if i stay on these sites long enough during company WORK hours and get caught! haha…sad.)

Mom2Six – okay, so if your daughter is going into Junior High now, then I’m expecting you to hold my hand when my daughter passes over that threshold. Got it? I need you to stick around for 2 more years AT LEAST.

YOU GO!!!! The majority of teachers agree with you. Standardized tests are not an accurate picture of a students abilities and skills. However those lovely and highly intelligent people we elect to public office see to think it is a wonderful way to assess students and not to mention hold the teachers accountable. Yes, here in the lovely state of Georgia our students standardized test scores are a part of our annual evaluation. If our students test well, then we did a good job teaching them. However if our students do not score well on these tests then that indicates some deficit or inefficiency on the teachers part.
Oh don’t get me started on standardized testing. I could type all day and night. I as a teacher do not agree with any aspect of standardized testing. There are so many other ways to assess what students know and their skills and abilities.
I’ll stop now, so as not to bore you with my little teacher mind.

I could stick around–but I thought your daughter was closer in age to mine. Mine just turned eleven, and seventh grade is junior high here! We got her into Kindergarten a little early (birthdays and deadlines). Perhaps we should have waited, but she has done well. You’ll be fine–so far. I think she is more nervous than I am!

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Who is Heather Sanders?

Heather Sanders knows what it means to step boldly (or not-so-boldly) into the unknown, and she's here to write about it. She and her husband Jeff faithsized their homeschooling family into a 960 sq. ft. lake cabin in need of continued renovations. Why? Obedience. Stewardship and Faith. Read More →